Solar system

A trial of how government, NASA and local officials would deal with a space rock headed toward Earth revealed gaps in the plans

China’s Tiangong orbital outpost will host more than 1,000 experiments, some of which will augment results from the International Space Station

SpaceX and the entrepreneur Jared Isaacman are pursuing a plan to rescue the iconic Hubble Space Telescope from a fiery plunge into Earth’s atmosphere

As the InSight lander reports the largest-ever meteorite strikes on Mars, scientists wish it a fond farewell

A new study suggests that billions of years ago microbes may have thrived on Mars before succumbing to freezing temperatures of their own making

An organism nicknamed “Conan the Bacterium” may have what it takes to live on Mars

NASA’s EMIT instrument has found more than 50 methane super emitters in its first few months of operation—and that’s not even its main job

The fabled star catalog from the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus had been feared lost

Nearly two years after the collapse of its 305-meter radio telescope, the Arecibo Observatory’s fate has been decided. The iconic giant dish will not be rebuilt, but research and public outreach at the site may continue

Fresh data from the Juno probe’s flyby of Europa could help scientists learn whether this icy moon of Jupiter is habitable—or even inhabited

NASA confirms that its DART spacecraft nudged the asteroid Dimorphos into a new orbit

Revised calibrations for the James Webb Space Telescope’s instruments are bedeviling researchers studying the distant universe